Stephen Hero. James Joyce. An early version of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I found it on the Free Books table in the staff lounge.

After the Workshop. John McNally. What do you do after graduating from the Iowa Writers' Workshop? You write a novel about someone who graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and winds up working as a media escort for author tours.

Workers in the Dawn. George Gissing. Gissing's first novel brought back into print by Debbie Harrison and Victorian Secrets.

The Hand That First Held Mine. Maggie O'Farrell. Publishers have sent me both the hardback and then the paperback version of a couple of books, but I think this is the first time I've received both an uncorrected proof and the finished hardback.

Life Sentences. Laura Lippman. For a book tour. Look for my review on Thursday.

Parrot and Olivier in America. Peter Carey. Historical fiction based on the life of Alexis de Tocqueville.

Twilight in Delhi. Ahmed Ali. Nineteenth-century India.

Wigs on the Green and Don't Tell Alfred. Nancy Mitford. These should be great for the next Read-a-thon, don't you think?

6 comments:

Oh, you have that nice new Fortunes of War edition by NYRB books--very nice! I'm waiting for a library copy of the Maggie O'Farrell book and will be getting those new (new editions anyway) Nancy Mitford books! Now I don't feel so bad as I have a big stack to share sometime this week of my own new books. (Sadly though I can't say they are the only purchases since the first of the year....).

Every time I tell myself to stop buying books, I always find more I *have* to have. I figure this vice is better than others, and I'm glad to know that I'm not alone. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the great books on this list.